Family forced to leave dad, 87, at Barbados hospital

THE family of an 87-year-old stranded in a Barbados hospital have described their nightmare experience.

Brian Harrhy was taken ill on a flight to the eastern Caribbean island with his wife Jean and their 46-year-old son Christopher.

Mr Harrhy was later placed into intensive care due to difficulty breathing, leaving his family from Taffs Well stuck on the island.

Mrs Harrhy, 84, suffers from memory loss and their son has severe learning difficulties – forcing their nephew Istvan Racz to fly out.

Mr Racz, 53, from Caerphilly, said: “Brian was taken ill on the plane, they didn’t want to let him off the flight.

“He did get off the flight, and they had a doctor out to visit him twice. On the second occasion they took him to hospital.

“My main concern was for the wellbeing of Chris and Jean because it was a horrendous situation for them to be in.

Due to their vulnerability, Mr Racz decided to fly out to the island on May 3 to try to help his family.

To make matters worse, Mrs Harrhy, who suffers with memory issues, had forgotten her pin number for her bank account and was prevented from accessing her money.

Thankfully, the family have been visiting Barbados for more than three decades and are well known in the area.

As a result, locals have been providing them with food and water.

Mr Racz said: “I really do believe that if it was not for myself, Jean and Christopher would be out here on their own in a perilous situation.

“Has it been a holiday from hell? I would not even call it a holiday.”

With flights from Barbabos to the UK costing close to £1,000, Mr Racz said he was unable to pay for the flights himself.

His daughter paid for Jean and Christopher’s flights back to the UK, while his neighbour lent the money for his – a total of about £2,700.

Cleaning company manager Mr Racz said: “The help I have had from family and friends has been absolutely amazing, the way everyone has just rallied around to help us out.”

Mr Harrhy has been on life support at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown since April 26 but is currently well enough to fly home.

Mr Istvan hopes to now sort out his uncle’s situation from the UK.

Mr Racz said: “It feels unbelievable. Only now that I’m back in the UK do I feel like I can relax.

“Obviously now they [Jean and Christopher] are really concerned because Brian is still out there.”

Mr Racz said he will continue to chase the insurance company and the authorities to have Mr Harrhy sent home.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We have provided considerable support to a British man and his family after he was hospitalised in Barbados, and continue to help them.”